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Ireland, Libya reach agreement on Cattle Imports

The Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., has welcomed the agreement of veterinary health certificates for the export of cattle to Libya, conveyed today (30th November) by the Libyan National Center of Animal Health to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

Minister Creed said:

“I welcome the agreement reached between my Department and the Libyan authorities on veterinary health certs for the export of breeding, fattening and slaughter cattle. Having an agreed health cert for breeding cattle provides much more clarity for exporters, as previously exports of breeding cattle to Libya had to be agreed on a load by load basis. I welcome also that agreement was reached on an increase in the age of cattle that can be exported to Libya, from 24 to 30 months – this increases opportunities for exporters to export a wider range of cattle.

“The agreement on these certs followed a successful visit by an official Libyan delegation to Ireland last August, at the invitation of my Department. During their visit here, my officials accompanied the delegation on visits to a beef farm, a dairy farm, and to a slaughter plant, where the high standards of the operators and the official controls applied by my Department were demonstrated.

“This achievement is part of the work my Department does to find new markets abroad for Irish product. Live exports have increased by 30% to date this year over the same period last year (January – 10th November) and in particular, exports to other EU Member States have significantly increased this year over 2017”.